Encountering bed bugs on a trip can be a nightmare.
Unlike what many people might believe, bed bugs don’t just infest dingy and shabby places. In fact, they can take over even the highest-rated hotels and Airbnb homes, because these insects spread like wildfire if left undetected. . Hence, even if you are booking a stay with a super host on Airbnb with glowing reviews on cleanliness, you can still encounter a bed bug infestation.
So, to ensure that you don’t become a victim of a bed bug infestation or carry bed bugs home with you, follow the tips below to hopefully avoid suffering from a bed bug infestation at your Airbnb.
Check Your Room Thoroughly as Soon as You Check-in
Since you can never be sure if your Airbnb home is infested with bed bugs, you should always conduct an inspection.
Check your room thoroughly as soon as you step foot in your Airbnb. Bed bugs love to hide in dark nooks and crannies, and they feed on your blood usually when you sleep, so check:
- Under the mattress and box spring
- Every corner of the bed
- The headboard
- Pillows
Don’t just look for the bugs, but also other tell-tale signs such as blood stains on the mattress, the exoskeleton of the insects, and their minuscule eggs.
Make sure you know what bed bugs look like. They are flat, small apple seed-sized, oval, and brown-colored insects that swell up and appear reddish after drinking blood. Thankfully, bed bugs cannot fly, but they can crawl quickly.
If you find evidence of bed bug infestation, take photographs and video as evidence. And if you come across one, see if you can take it hostage (there’s no better proof than the bug itself) but be careful with storing it. Inform your host at once, and you can also report to Airbnb directly if your host is unresponsive.
Keep Your Luggage off the Floor and Away from the Bed
Bed bugs could attach to a piece of fabric and haul a ride back with you to your home or to the next hotel you move into. So, be sure to keep all your clothes and bags as far away as possible from the usual main location of infestation—the bed.
You should also avoid keeping your luggage on the floor as the bugs can crawl on the ground and potentially reach your belongings. Keep your luggage on higher locations instead, like a shelf or a dresser. It is not that bed bugs cannot or don’t climb, there is just a much lower chance. Some people go as far as keeping their luggage in the bathroom to avoid bed bug infestation.
Only start unpacking after you are done checking the room thoroughly. However, still, avoid keeping your clothes or other belongings on the bed.
Be Careful with Your Luggage Once You Get Home from the Trip
If you do encounter bed bugs in an Airbnb while traveling, note that even after all the precautions you take, you might unknowingly bring some back to your home. Even if you don’t bring the actual bugs home, you could bring home bed bug eggs, which are equally dangerous and capable of starting a bed bug breakout.
To avoid such a situation, here’s what you should do once you get back from traveling:
- Try not to bring the luggage into your home and instead place it somewhere like a garage or a storage room where the bugs will not come into contact with fabrics or humans.
- Don’t unpack immediately. Instead, if it’s summertime, keep your luggage in a closed car for a couple of days. The heat should kill off the insects in all its stages.
- Run your washables through a wash and dry cycle at high heat to kill off the bed bugs and their eggs.
Bed Bugs Spoiled Your Trip? Consult with a Bed Bug Injury Lawyer
Being exposed to bed bug infestation while vacationing can be mentally taxing and physically exhausting. If your host didn’t cooperate with you or if the settlement you received from Airbnb seemed unfair considering the hassle you had to go through, consult a bed bug law firm like the Bed Bug Injury Lawyers. They can assess your situation, tell you if you have a case they can help with, and if so, assist you in potentially receiving compensation for the trouble you had to endure.
